Great live albums often function as documents of a performer’s stinting onstage abilities, stopgaps between studio albums, introductions to a musician’s earlier work, and/or opportunities for familiar material to be showcased in superior ways

Songs In the Attic serves all of these purposes and more

As Billy Joel’s first live album, it’s still his best, punctuated by dynamic renditions of favorites and deep cuts, and augmented by a tested band in sync with the pianist